Last week was the Liberal Democrat party conference in Bournemouth. Some of you may have seen me joining Ed Davey and opening our conference by leading a marching band through the town. I’m not sure my drumming was good enough to guarantee me a permanent place in the band, but it was great fun! It was also an appropriate way to open a conference that was very much themed around ‘positive patriotism’, offering a home to voters who feel proud to be British but do not feel comfortable with some of the more unsavoury elements and views of those on the right – people and parties who wrap themselves in the flag while peddling divisiveness, talking our country down and echoing the talking points of Trump and Putin. We want to show that being proud to be British also means loving your country and its traditions and the freedoms we hold dear.
The conference wasn’t just about recapturing the flag. It was also about progressive policies for building a better Britain.
In West Dorset we’ve seen the recent closure of police counters in Bridport and Sherborne, leaving residents feeling vulnerable without a walk-in desk where they can speak to an officer. At conference we announced a new policy guaranteeing a police counter in every community.
I am regularly contacted by parents worried about the detrimental effect of social media on young people’s mental health. Last week on a visit to Salway Ash primary school I met The Mindful Digital Collective, who run afterschool clubs teaching digital awareness and online safety to kids. It is a great project, but it is voluntary. Far more needs to be done to protect young people in a society which is increasingly online. At the conference, we announced a new policy calling for social media apps to have cigarette-style health warnings, and for a two-hour ‘doomscrolling cap’ to limit young people’s exposure to deliberately addictive algorithms.
There’s plenty more to do, and more policies to come, as we set out our vision for a better, more united kingdom. Stay tuned!
Edward Morello
LibDem MP for West Dorset
